The 2019 Canadian Grand Prix was full of controversy.
After claiming pole position on Saturday, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel led every single lap of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
He was hunted all the way by Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes man always within striking distance of the German.
On lap 48, that pressure showed, with Vettel running over the grass heading into the chicane at turn three.
As he rejoined the track, he prevented Hamilton from passing him, closing the gap to the wall on his outside.
Commentating live on the incident for Sky Sports F1, Martin Brundle quipped that he “wouldn’t be penalising that”. Unfortunately for Vettel, however, the stewards disagreed, handing him a five-second penalty for an unsafe re-entry back onto the track.
That gifted the race win to Hamilton, leading the fans in attendance to vociferously boo the Briton on the podium.
It was here that Vettel’s class shone through, with the four-time World Champion launching a passionate defence of his rival amid his anger towards the race stewards.
‘The people shouldn’t boo Lewis’ – Sebastian Vettel’s classy defence of his Mercedes rival
After Vettel was informed of the stewards’ decision, he was understandably angry on his team radio.
With Hamilton able to follow the Ferrari man without needing to overtake him, Vettel knew there was no way he could win the race.
Speaking before the Grand Prix finished, the German said that he “had nowhere to go” after coming back onto the circuit, claiming that the stewards were “stealing the race from [Ferrari]” because of the penalty.
After he got out of his car at the end of the race, the 37-year-old still hadn’t cooled down, swapping the number one board in front of Hamilton’s car in parc ferme for the number two.
Vettel’s anger was never directed at Hamilton, however.
Indeed, after hearing the Canadian crowd boo the now seven-time World Champion on the podium after the race, Vettel made clear in his interview with Martin Brundle that “the people shouldn’t boo Lewis.”
It was a classy response in such an emotional situation, one Vettel echoed in the drivers’ cool-down room following the race, in which Vettel said to Hamilton that “it wasn’t your decision,” thereby exonerating the Briton from any blame.
Lewis Hamilton’s view on the five-second penalty
In pursuit of his sixth World Title at the time, Hamilton was jubilant after winning the race.
Yet he did caveat on his team radio that “that wasn’t necessarily the way I wanted to win.”
He was more understanding of the penalty, however, stating that he “would have been past [Vettel] if it wasn’t for the wall.”
The Mercedes driver therefore seemed to indicate that he agreed with the stewards, saying in his post-race interview that Vettel “made a mistake,” before adding that “the rules say that when you go off, you have to come [back] on in a safe manner, and I was alongside.”
Hamilton continued: “I had to back out to avoid a collision, so I guess that’s why [the stewards] made the decision.”
It gave Hamilton his third consecutive win of that season and his fifth from the opening seven races as the 40-year-old marched to his sixth World Title.